Roe vs. Wade anniversary a reason for action

The VOX group was founded here at Portland State University. It is our goal to educate and mobilize pro-choice students and create opportunities for activism and strong demonstrations of solidarity. We believe that we have the responsibility to be vigilant in guarding our right to choose, that we must never allow complacency to lead us back into a time when abortions were inaccessible and dangerous. We are not afraid to stand up and say that we are pro-choice, because we believe that being pro-choice means that we are compassionate, concerned, understanding, respectful and courageous. We believe that our voices are powerful.

We want students at PSU to have access to medically accurate, nonbiased information about contraception as well as pregnancy options. We support women and men making decisions regarding their fertility without government interference. We want women to feel strong in the choices they make, and to build a community in which women’s intelligence is respected and their morality is trusted. We envision a society in which each individual is empowered to make healthy and responsible choices. We want to celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade at 30, 40, 50 years and beyond.

January 22 is a day to remember that our right to choose is a fundamental American freedom. Take this opportunity to make your voice heard on your campus and in your community, and become part of the network of activists around the country who are working to ensure that our reproductive rights are preserved.

January 22 marks the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. The decriminalization of abortion was a triumph of grassroots activism and would not have come about were it not for the dedication, passion and hard work of millions of people all over the nation. Americans had made it clear that they would no longer tolerate watching their sisters, daughters, mothers and wives die as the result of illegal abortions. Women of every state, every age, every race and every socioeconomic group came forward and courageously began to tell their own stories of unintended pregnancy and their decision to have an abortion. Doctors and nurses began to talk about the women they saw in hospitals with fatal infections as a result of self-induced or back-alley abortions. Lawyers, politicians and judges began to challenge the constitutionality of denying women the right to make decisions about their own bodies. And as a result of all these people working together, Roe vs. Wade was decided and the course of American history was forever altered.

Twenty-nine years later, the post-Roe generation has grown up not in an age of criminal abortion, but rather in an age characterized by the kind of misinformation and propaganda exhibited in the paid advertising supplement published last week in the Vanguard. The pro-choice activists of today spend much of their time disproving false claims by groups such as the Human Life Alliance and are therefore unable to direct their energy toward affirming and celebrating the basic right that every human being should have – the right to make the decisions that affect their bodies, their lives and their futures. It is for this reason that we are not afraid to stand up and say that we are pro-choice.

Please contact VOX at www.ppcw.org or call 503-775-4931. There will be a candlelight vigil at the First Congressional Church 1126 S.W. Park Ave., 6-8 p.m..